Hello, I'm Krestey Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.

For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in 2009. My castaway this week is Sir Stuart Rose. For the past five years he's been the boss of Marks and

Spencer holding a very British institution and indeed the nation's knickers in

his hands. Brought in to boost sales and fight off a takeover bid, he's seen by many as the store's

savior.

And it's not the only High Street Giant he's lent a hand to.

Argos, Devonums, Dorothy Perkins and Evans are among the others that he's dug out of a hole.

He concedes there have been times when his will to keep the tills ringing has meant his family

life has come second, but now that the company's next chief executive has been announced, he can look to the future, a time when he'll finally be able to step off the shop floor.

I'd like to go tomorrow, he says, but I can't't I've got to get the company through the

recession and then go gracefully you'd like to go tomorrow I'm not sure I believe

that Stuart Rose well not exactly but obviously I said that I would get the company through the

recession having spent the previous two or three years repairing some of the

infrastructure and the next thing we have to do is to find a chief executive and

I'm delighted that we have this week announced the new chief

executive Mark Boland from Morrison's who I think is the man to take the business

forward for the next decade. That's the nice PR bit over but I want to ask about you I mean I'm

sure he is a very capable man he's from Morrison's he knows what he's doing

but that is it took a year to find him does that mean now that he's in place we can

get a date from you as to when you are finally going because right now you are chairman.

Yes I'm very conscious though that life moves on. I'm very conscious that you mustn't

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